TREASURER WANTS REVIEW OF ELECTION FUNDS

Rosso: Gov’t ‘Well Prepared’ For Better Service

By Paul Oeka

On Papua New Guinea’s Independence Day last Sept. 16, Acting Prime Minister John Rosso assured heads of government, departmental heads, the diplomatic corps, and the country that the government is better and well-prepared to deliver services to the people.

During his inaugural independence speech as Acting Prime Minister, Mr. Rosso said: “We are not the new government. We are a continuing government that is better prepared and in the right position to effectively coordinate and deliver on development priorities in the next five years.”

He was speaking on behalf of Prime Minister James Marape and Governor General Sir Bob Dadae, who were in London to condole with King Charles III following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

Mr. Rosso added: “This government is now more targeted and focused on critical areas of economic growth that will bring development to all of us.”

“The 2019 Loloata outcome continues to serve as the blueprint and guideline for targeted sectorial reforms by aligning them with overall development policies and plans,” he said.

Mr. Rosso stated: “We cannot just keep talking about concepts. We already have some good policies in place and what we need is total and equitable commitment and hard work to implement existing policies to achieve industrialization and economic growth for our people.”

“Most of these policy concepts are in line with the recent government restructure, which included the creation of new ministries, which are International Trade and Investment, Livestock, Oil Palm and Coffee.”

Mr. Rosso said: “We are looking at restructures that can reform and harness the potential of various sectors such as renewable resources and non-renewable resources that have been dormant for the last 46 years. Our people must also be included and empowered to be participants in ensuring economic growth.”

“No one will do this for our people, we must do this for our children and our future. Let us all build Papua New Guinea together, this effort will include collaboration from the public and private sector, Businesses, farmers, and ordinary citizens throughout the country to play their individual roles,” he explained.

“For many years, the government’s focus has been on non-renewable resources, especially the extractive industry, which can be depleted and only serves 10 percent of the economy,” Mr. Rosso said.

“The government is now giving equal attention to renewable resources, which mainly serve 80 percent of our rural population. In doing so, the rural population can be meaningfully engaged in the agricultural sector to sustain themselves.”

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Treasurer Wants Review of Election Funds

By Paul Oeka

Treasurer Ian Ling-Stuckey is dismayed at how the 2022 National Elections were conducted and is now looking forward to a complete review of the allocated funds that were spent on the elections.

Ling-Stuckey recently stated in parliament that the government had allocated and funded enough money for the election process to be carried out this year.

“We provided a further K50 million to cover the costs for the 2022 election, bringing the total funding for the election to nearly double the level of expenditure in the 2017 national elections. There was enough money to support a much better election this year, so I look forward to the proposed parliamentary committee examinations of what went wrong and what can be done better,” he said.

The Treasurer also expressed concern that there was a decrease in the public servants’ salaries.

He explained that “Once again there is a salary cost overrun. This is K201 million much lower than in previous years, and out of this, over 70 percent is related to teacher wage overruns. We contributed to bringing this area under control. After no pay increases during the latest part of the Covid-19 crisis, it is now time to start increasing some salary payments.”

“There is also the need to provide additional funding for the seven new districts that have been created and K3 million each has been provided. There are also new members in existing electorates and it is appropriate that they be given some funds for commencing programs through to the end of the year. For equity reasons all districts and provinces needed to benefit the same so an additional 2 million per district and province have been allocated bringing the funding back to 10 million per district and province,” he said.

Meanwhile, there was an announcement on Thursday last week that the Department of personnel management, Treasury, and Finance are working together to ensure that there will be a three percent pay increment in the salary of public servants.

This pay increment is to be adjusted and effective by December this year, the welcoming news for public servants was confirmed by the Secretary of the Department of Personnel Management, Taies Sansan.

Real Estate In SME Sector Booms In Moresby South

By Paul Oeka

The long-awaited realization of quality services from the government has seen a real estate boom mainly from property owners in the Small to Medium Enterprise Sector (SME) in the Moresby South electorate of NCD. A rapid transformation from the shanty colonial suburbs to a modern-looking electorate has created an abundance of opportunities for property owners, small businesses, and residents in and around the electorate.

Recently after retaining his seat as current Member for Moresby South and newly appointed Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Events, Hon Justin Tkatchenko highlighted that he was humbled and overwhelmed by the huge support shown by the people of Moresby South and stressed the development aspects of his electorate. “I am satisfied that Moresby South is setting the standard in many different ways under my leadership

and I thank the administrative staff and others who have to ensure that requirements by laws are fulfilled. “This is important in the use of public funds,” Mr. Tkatchenko said.

The development in the electorate has made way for the creation of businesses with the building of Housing and rental properties along the Motu Koitabu villages of Mahuru, Kilakila, Pari, and around the suburbs of Sabama and Joyce Bay has been quite a remarkable turnaround from its original state and has fast become a potential prospect for the real estate industry.

A notable example is a back-hill road that connects from the scratchy road leading towards the Joyce Bay sewerage plant. The hillside area along this back road is now occupied with newly built Modern styled houses and the area has been largely in demand for land purchases particularly because of the magnificent view and also from the lighting at night that overlooks the shoreline from Joyce Bay and continues up

around to the newly built state of the art Butuka Academy School and stretches across Scratchly road down to Badili.

There is already a hotel in place in the area which has created opportunities for residents and the growth of the business has prompted property owners into becoming competitive with rental fees directly resulting in the influx of residents from other parts of the city which has really worked well to the advantage of businesses. The vicinity of shops, markets, and bus stops are all within walking distance from each other and is much more convenient for residents which mainly contrasts Public Servants, middle to low-income earners, and SMEs

The sale, leasing, and purchasing of land have also become a lucrative market for landowners both at a large and small scale and businesses that are keen for change and development have been at the forefront of purchasing large portions of land for housing and business purposes. Most Homeowners in the area have also sold or renovated and refurbished their homes into quality houses and Duplexes with all the conveniences of a modern home and have ventured into the real estate market as well.

The major factor for this real estate growth is the competition of rental properties which have in one way relaxed the constraints of daily livelihood for the residents of the electorate due to reduced rentals. Many residents have stated that the developments taking place around the surrounding suburbs have triggered a population increase in the electorate.

A retired Police officer and Longtime resident and Community leader in the Moresby South area, Anthony Aphranick Guken said “In the past, Moresby South was regarded and labeled as a notorious place in the city, but now there is a huge change in infrastructure, roads, markets,

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